National Vodka Day: 12 Surprising Facts

Today is National Vodka Day! Vodka is the Slavic word for “little water” and is traditionally made by mixing water with fermented grains. Here are 10 additional facts about the spirit to help get your party started:

Vodka was originally invented in Poland, first produced in the 8th century.

Drinking vodka or any other form of liquor will actually ease the pain of a hot pepper.

A teaspoon of sugar with a few drops of vodka helps keep flowers fresher longer.

Cheap vodka can be filtered with a water filter to taste like a top-shelf vodka.

A whopping 25 percent of all Russian men die before they reach their mid-50s, mainly due to vodka.

The Russians partied so hard once WWII ended that the entire city of Moscow ran out of vodka.

While NASA has strict rules regarding alcohol in orbit, Russia has a much more relaxed approach to drunk space travel, and allows its cosmonauts to drink small amounts of vodka on their space station.

Guns N’ Roses’ bassist Duff McKagan at his worst was drinking “a gallon of vodka a day” and then 10 bottles of wine a day.

The most expensive vodka in the world, Billionaire Vodka, costs $3.75 million a bottle. It’s filtered though ice, Nordic birch charcoal and sand made from crushed diamonds and gems.

Adding vodka to your shampoo is supposed to make your hair healthier and shinier.